If you’re like me, as soon as you get a new rifle, you start to anticipate reloading for it. There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of seeing your groups shrink after careful planning and successive batches of reloads. For most of us, there’s a particular rifle cartridge that we tend to reload most frequently. Which one is it for you?

53 thoughts on “Poll: What Rifle Cartridge Do You Reload Most Often?”

For me it would be .204 which is the most often reloaded, since it also the most often fired at targets and varmints. I don’t see it as one of the choices. Of the choices listed it would be .308 Win/ 7.62×51.

Since I reload for both competition and hunting I don’t really have a favorite. I do believe the best loads come from personal commitment to optimize your rifles characteristics. I also believe you choose your rifle based on what your going to do and where.

The 270 WSM is my volume load. 110 gr for prairie dogs to antelope. 130 gr for deer & caribou. Usually 140 gr for elk (I don’t take shots over 200 yards so plenty of KE) but have used 150 gr too as rifle has a quick 1 in 7 turn.

I enjoy shooting all of them and really enjoy the fact they they are historically important cartridges. I have learned a lot on this website, and would probably not have started reloading without the information I picked up here.

Still, after 56 yrs. highly favor the cartridge Jack O’Conner popularized, the venerable .270 Win.
With the exception or the larger Bear family members it handled all the Big Game hunting did in Alaska, when lived there, after Military service.
Should temper this with not ever being much of a varmint hunter for whatever reason……..

357 magnum for my Marlin 1894. I shoot metalic silhouetts out to 200m with it. I also have 4 revolvers that use the same cartridge. It is easy to load and inexpensive. I use Origon Trail’s 158 rnfp over 14g of h110.

Varies upon the project, right now .257 Roberts Ackley Improved (great cartridge) and developing su sonic loads for a 7.62 X 39mm that I put together recently. Trail Boss powder with 200 to 220 grain Sierras. Kind of pricey for plinking, buts loads of fun.

I reload for the 20-06 a lot because it is so much fun to shoot at the range. While I use the 25-06 mostly for target practice using a 75 grain bullet, it makes a good whitetail rifle with a 117 grain Interlock. Also reload for the 6.5×55, 30-30, 30-06, 9mm, 38 Special, .357, and 40 S&W.

223 Remington, hands down. My first centerfire rifle was a 223, and I was already reloading for pistols, so I skipped factory ammo entirely and immediately started loading the 223. There are no flies on the 223, despite what some say. It is an accurate round in it’s own right, and reloading components are the most available and the least expensive. Later, I got into AR-15s and needless to say, the volume of reloads increased exponentially.

.280 is why I started, its a great round. I used to be able to get a great off the shelf cartridge but no longer. Therefore I started replicating the that shell, albeit better since I’m using form fired cases and all of the other great tools we have.

I’m old school. I still think the 30-06 is the best all around cartridge out there.

I see a bunch of people running around with and touting AR’s. But I’m prejudiced against them from my time in the service when I was using the M-16, and the problems it had then.
—Though from what I’ve lately read and heard, most, if not all of the problems I have with the AR platform may have been solved long ago.

However I think I’m probably going to continue to be a stick in the mud and stay with the 30-06.
–On the other hand I really wish I could use some of that less expensive military surplus ammo.

6.5 CM greater amount of experimenting to find your rifles happy spot, and the ballistic ability of the caliper is enough to truly test your skills. Also, I live in northern mn and only one store orders it and it sells out fast. They dont carry more than 2 options 129 gmx interlock and 140 gr cant remember.